8

Quality & Safety

At Good Shepherd Health Care System, we strive to 
provide you with the highest quality experience while 
utilizing the safest proven techniques and procedures 
for delivering your care. As an organization, we measure 
quality and safety in several ways; patient perceptions 
and experiences, and through national measurements 
and benchmarks that compare us to healthcare 
organizations throughout the nation. 

Our medical staff, employees and volunteers are 
dedicated to continuously improving the experience you 
have while in our care. Some experiences may be joyous 
—like the birth of a newborn baby, while others more 
traumatic—like end-of-life care. 

Simply put, patients with positive care experiences often 
have better health outcomes. At GSHCS, Patients First is 
more than a motto, it’s a strategic imperative. 

We want to be known not only for exceptional clinical 
excellence, but also for the compassion and respect we 
show to our patients and their families.

Our patients and their loved ones are an invaluable 
source of information that help us understand how we 
can improve. 

Have a suggestion? Contact our Customer 
Experience Line at 541-667-3427.

We want to improve, and you can help! You may 
receive a survey by mail, email or text asking about 
your experience at Good Shepherd Health Care System. 
Please complete the survey as soon as possible. We will 
use your feedback to make improvements.

As we reflect on the past fiscal year, we have made many 
notable improvements and achievements including:

• Began participation with the American College of 

Surgeon’s National Surgical Quality Improvement Program 

(NSQIP) to identify opportunities to improve patient care 

and enhance our surgical outcomes.

• The Quality Department recruited eight community 

members to start GSHCS’s first Patient & Family 

Advisory Council (PFAC). Three staff members traveled 

to Los Angeles to attend the Patient and Family 

Centered Care Conference, where they heard from 

PFACs around the country about some of their most 

impactful improvement projects.

• The Quality Department partnered with departments 

on patient experience improvement projects including 

the purchase of toys, blankets, and books for pediatric 

patients, wayfinding signage, staff education and 

recognition, digital signage, and projects to improve 

quietness on inpatient units.

• Developed a Patient & Family Visitor Guide to help 

inpatients better understand their care, safety practices, 

and the resources available to them upon discharge.

• Received over 3,000 positive patient comments via 

patient experience surveys.

• Vange John Memorial Hospice achieved five-star status 

in the Center for Medicare & Medicaid family caregiver 

survey rating.

• Received near-perfect patient experience scores for 

cleanliness in inpatient units and celebrated the success of 

our Environmental Services team.

• Saw a nearly 5% top box score improvement in both  

“Rate the Hospital” and “Recommend the Hospital”  

patient experience survey scores compared to the 

previous year, excelling in the areas of “Communication 

with Nurses”, “Communication with Doctors” 

“Responsiveness of Hospital Staff”, and “Cleanliness  

of the Hospital Environment.”

• Saw improvements in patient experience scores from clinic 

patients in the areas of “Provider listened carefully to you” 

and “Provider showed respect for what you had to say.”

Patient Experience